How To Freeze Cake (Slice, Wrap and Freeze)

Easy steps on how to freeze cake to keep it fresh and moist. All you need to do is let it cool, slice it, wrap in plastic and freeze. This is great method if you have leftover birthday or wedding cake.

Freezing Leftover Birthday Cake

Call me crazy but sometimes there is too much birthday cake!  Instead of letting it dry out and go to waste you should freeze your cake slices to enjoy for months after your celebration. 

Follow these steps to enjoy frozen cake that tastes as good as when it was fresh.  

How to Freeze Cake

Cool it.  This guide assumes that your cake is a few days old already but it’s fine if it’s fresh, you just need to make sure that it is fully cooled down.  

Cut it.  We like to cut our cake into single serving slices because it’s easier to defrost and makes for the perfect sized dessert or snack.

Wrap it.  Wrap your cake slices in plastic wrap.  This helps to keep the cake moist and fluffy.  

Bag it.  Take your wrapped slice and put it in a freezer bag.  Try to remove as much air as possible from the bag before sealing. For sealing you have 2 options:

Vacuum sealing is going to make anything you freeze stay fresh and delicious for longer than simply wrapping.  When freezing cake slices we seal them with a vacuum sealer.  If your machine has “wet” settings you should use those when sealing. 

I recommend giving your slices a quick hour freeze after you wrap them in plastic wrap to firm them up.  This helps them survive getting squished by the vacuum.  

DIY vacuum sealer: If you do not have a vacuum sealer you can use the DIY method of using a straw to stuck out excess air from your freezer bag as best you can before closing.  The DIY method isn’t perfect but it’s low cost and better than not doing it at all. 

Freeze it!

How to Defrost Cake

The best way to defrost frozen cake is to move it to the refrigerator for a few hours.  You can also just move it to the countertop and if your slices are not too thick and depending on how hot it is in your home it will defrost in 10-15 minutes. 

If you are in a hurry (this is usually me!) you can defrost in the microwave but you have to be careful or the cake will start to melt.  If you want to try the microwave start with 5 seconds of defrost and add time a little bit at a time as needed.  

Here’s a piece of birthday cake that’s been defrosted.  Looks just like it did the day I froze it!

How Long Can I Freeze Cake For?  

Eat frozen cake within 2-3 months.  The longer that you keep it frozen in your freezer the more the flavor and texture will deteriorate.  We’ve regularly frozen birthday cake for a month and when defrosted, we’re unable to tell a big difference between the taste of frozen vs fresh.

Can I Freeze My Wedding Cake?

Do you have a lot of left over cake after your big day?  Spread that delicious joy out over the next few months and relive the memories with every bite.  Cut your cake into single servings for best quality and ease.  

If you plan on eating your wedding cake on your 1 year anniversary, enjoy!  Just remember it probably won’t taste as good as your wedding day, but this piece will be with a lot less stress (I hope!)!

Pin for later: